Edwin Encarnacion clubs two homers in same inning, including grand slam

Edwin Encarnacion clubs two homers in same inning, including grand slam

All-Star Edwin Encarnacion made Toronto Blue Jays history on Friday night when he became only the second player in their almost 37 year existence to hit two home runs in the same inning.

On Oct. 3, 1993, Joe Carter became the first Jay to turn the trick in their regular season finale against the Baltimore Orioles. Obviously that would soon become overshadowed by a slightly more important home run — Carter's walkoff homer against Mitch Williams in Game 6 of the World Series that clinched back-to-back world championships for Toronto.

Despite high expectations entering the season, Encarnacion likely won't have the opportunity to match Carter's postseason heroics, but equaling the two homer inning during their eight run seventh inning rally against the Houston Astros is a nice consolation. The 30-year-old designated hitter started the rally with a solo homer leading off against Paul Clemens. Eight batters and three runs later, he found himself at the dish again, this time with the bases loaded, and he connected for a grand slam off Hector Ambriz.

For Encarnacion, the home runs were No. 27 and 28 on the season. The first was immediately followed by an Adam Lind home run that tied the game at six and officially got struggling starter R.A. Dickey off the hook. The Blue Jays also received home runs from Brett Lawrie and Jose Reyes in the runaway win. Reyes would finish a triple shy of the cycle.

Speaking of cycles, Encarnacion's unlikely achievement also adds to the unusual list of events that have happened to the Astros over the past eight days. In a span of 24 hours last weekend, they managed to drop two games to the Seattle Mariners despite one of their players making or flirting with their own piece of history. On Friday, outfielder Brandon Barnes hit for the cycle in a losing effort. Then on Saturday, Erik Bedard tossed 6 1/3 hitless innings, and was the losing pitcher on the hill.

Without question those are two rare occurrences with unlikely outcomes. In this case, the outcome was predictable with Toronto surging ahead and coming out on top 12-6, but that's probably because we just assume the Astros will end up on the wrong side of history every time they're involved in it.